Normal Now?

So I've told a few people that I know that I'm getting tattoos done this week and told them I'm getting them on my thighs.  The response I got from a few people was, "why are you getting them in a place nobody will see them?"  That response kind of surprised me.  Maybe I was expecting something more along the lines of, "I can't believe you're getting another tattoo". (I know this will be my mom's response when she finds out.  Sorry mom.)  I know that getting a tattoo in a place that you can't cover up working a 9-5 job isn't a great idea, but lately I've noticed people in fairly conservative retail stores with visible tattoos on their arms.  I've also seen a lot more people with unnatural colored hair working in retail.  This has made me wonder, are tattoos piercings, and colorful hair becoming mainstream and normal?

I suppose my mindset about people's reactions to such things comes from the fact I've lived in the conservative South my whole life.  I grew up in a small town and when I was in high school, I was the goth girl with black hair and spiked dog collar, so I obviously got a lot of whispers and shocked looks.  So when I quit my job last year, got out of my conservative attire, and started dying my hair funky colors, I was really expecting people to give me some really weird looks.  Don't get me wrong, I do get those sometimes, but for the most part, I get nothing but complements on my hair.  In fact, my husband and I went to a farmers market yesterday and I was approached by a little girl in a tutu, obviously on her way home from ballet practice.  She came up to me with a smile on her face and said, "excuse me, but I think your hair is neat!".  We couldn't help but giggle about it.

I wanted to get some more opinions about this topic.  If you have tattoos that could be visible at work, how has your employer reacted?  Do they care or do they ask you to cover them up?  What kind of reactions do you get from people if you have tattoos, piercings, or colorful hair?  What's your reaction to others who have these things?  Do you think tattoos, piercings, and bold hair colors are becoming the norm and not the exception?  

I can't wait to hear your opinions!

What I Wore: Spring Flowers

Outfit:

Dress: Estate Sale (vintage)

Belt: Forever 21

Shoes: Payless

I remember finding this dress at a wonderful estate sale and being amazed that it was so old.  It's so funny how something from nearly 50 years ago fits in perfectly with today's fashions.  Whenever I get around to repairing my sewing machine, I want to use this dress as a base to make more dresses.  The lines are simple and it has pockets, so it's the perfect dress!

As you can see, I've been sticking with the purple hair lately.  It's certainly my favorite and I love that the dye that I use (N'Rage- can be purchased at Sally Beauty Supply) is demi-permenant, meaning it doesn't wash out after 2 showers like some brands.  In fact, the only reason I've had to re-dye my hair is to cover my roots.

Is it just me or does everyone else feel super awkward posing for pictures, especially when you're using a tripod?  I feel like Ricky Bobby.

Taking Time Out For Beauty

I always thought that your 20s is that period of time where you become a lady and relish in your youthfulness.  That may be the case for some, but not me.  The only thing I've done for my appearance in the last 10 years has been to change my hair color about 20 times and gain about 30 pounds.  Not exactly ideal.  And not having a job to get up and get dressed for everyday has been nice, but it hasn't exactly motivated me to care about how I look.  I've decided this is something I need to work on.  Here's what I've been doing and what I'm going to do to make myself feel more like a woman and less like the sweatpants-wearing college student that I'm regressing back to...

• I got about 3 inches cut off my hair and it's fantastic.  I enjoyed having brightly colored hair for a while, but it caused some major damage.  Cutting most of it off has made a huge difference.  And no more bleaching for me.  Luckily I discovered that L'Oreal Excellence HiColor will lighten my dark roots just as well as a bleaching without the damage.
• I've finally mastered straightening my hair with a brush and a blow dryer.  You all have no idea how happy I am about this.  I've had naturally curly hair for years and hated it, but I came to enjoy it by the time I got in my mid-twenties.  Well, when you bleach your hair it stretches the hair making it a frizzy mess.  Which means my days of curly hair were gone.  But thanks to a great stylist and a bristled-brush, I'm now on my way to a lovely head of hair. 
• I've been doing the P90X stretching video everyday.  You're probably asking yourself- why I don't just do the whole routine?  Have you tried to do those things?  Even the yoga one is way out of my league right now.  The stretching video is so awesome.  It works every muscle and I feel great at the end.  I'll work my way up to those other ones.
• I've got to get some contacts.  Don't get me wrong, I love my glasses.  But they make me feel like a full time dork and I want to have the option of not wearing them.
• I'm going to put on my big girl panties and start wearing lipstick once in a while.  I've always felt like it makes me look like a kid who just ate a popsicle, but I'm trying to get past that.

Honestly, I know all of this sounds a little vain, but I think I've been stuck in the opposite direction for so long that I could use a little vanity.  No more going out in sweatpants and no makeup (yes...I do that.  A lot.).  I'm not going to start wearing heals to the grocery store or anything, but it won't kill me to put a little more effort into my appearance.  I have a feeling that making just small changes in my daily routine will give me a much needed confidence boost.  What do you all do to make yourself feel that extra bit of pretty?

 

What I Wore- Casual Karen

Outfit: 

Shirt: thrifted

Glasses: Coastal.com

Jeans: JCPenney

Shoes: Payless

If someone would have told me a year ago that I would ever wear skinny jeans with anything other than boots, I would have laughed at them.  I just never thought they looked right on me.  But considering these are the only jeans I have that are actually comfortable to wear, I decided to give it a go.  And I like them, as long as I wear a shirt long enough to cover up my booty!

I took these more casual photos to show that I don't wear skirts and dresses everyday.  I also took these pictures as a way to say goodbye to my pinkish-blonde hair.  It will be an entirely different color next time you see it.

Also, here's proof that not all mushrooms are cute.  I've been watching this nasty one grow day by day and it pretty much looks like a turd.  Yuck.

What I Wore- Sister Golden Hair

Outfit:

Jeans: Thrifted

Top: Forever 21

Necklace: Grandmother's 

Bracelet: ? No idea

OK, so before you say anything, yes that's me.  Yes, I'm blonde.  And yes, I know I don't make the world's best blonde.  My purple and blue hair had seen it's day and to be honest, I just can't keep up the crazy hair color.  As much as I loved it, I was having to bleach my hair every time I wanted to change colors, and I have a lot of hair.  I'm not completely done with fun colors.  I'm sure there will be some funky colored tips in my future.  But I'm probably not doing my whole head of hair again.  Plus, I've always wanted to be blonde, regardless of how crappy it looks on me.  There's still a bit of blue still in my hair because it would not come out, even with 2 bleachings.  And needless to say my poor hair is fried, but I'm hoping some TLC and conditioning will help.  I don't think I'll be staying blonde for long, because it really doesn't suit me.  But, I wanted to give it a try!

This is also my new favorite place to take pictures.  It's actually a swamp that just a few minutes from my house.  I've always wanted to go and they just built a new platform for bird watching, so I went and checked it out.  The weather is actually pleasant for now, so I'm hoping I'll have lots more beautiful days like this to take pictures.
 

What I Wore- Navy Floral

Dress: Vintage
Shoes:  Thrifted

  Belt: Grandmother's

Earings: Hot Topic

Well I guess the third time was a charm with my purple hair.  I used the Ion Brights again and mixed purple and fuchsia and used a 1:1 ratio of dye to conditioner.  As long as it stays this bright, I'll be happy.  I scored a bunch of purple color stay shampoo and purple dry shampoo at Hot Topic for $0.75 each at Hot Topic on Saturday, so I hope that will help keep that color pretty!

I picked up this dress at Flower Child Vintage in Columbus, Ohio.  It was on a sale rack outside and I snatched it up.  I still spent more than I usually would on a dress ($14...gasp...), but it was worth it.

I know this is the second outfit post this week, but I really wanted to share my new hair!  I've noticed that I'm not really posting as much as I would like, so I may be doing 2 outfit posts every week (we'll see how that pans out).

Well, I hope everyone's week is going well!  My husband and I are going to go on yard-sailing (sale-ing?) adventures on Friday and Saturday.  We haven't done that in a while, so wish us luck!

What I Wore- Grandma's Attic

Dress: Thrifted
Shoes:  Payless

  Belt: Thrifted

 

This outfit post is lacking in a variety of pictures, but that's because a lot of them magically disappeared off my SD card.  Yay!  Anyways, I wore this outfit to my cousin's bridal shower.  And yes, this is my grandma's attic.  I love these butterflies above the bed  They've been there as long as I can remember and were probably from when my mother's room was up there.

Also, as you can see, my hair has turned more gray than purple now.  And that's just after one wash.  I've since dyed it much darker and bought some purple color stay shampoo ($0.75 at Hot Topic!) so I'm hoping that will make it last.  Luckily, I'm the kind of person who likes to take chances with my hair.  So I dyed it too light and it turned gray?  No big deal.  I actually got a lot of compliments on it while it was gray.  Too bad I don't really want gray hair until I'm at least 50 or so. 

What I Wore- New Hair

Dress: Thrifted
Shoes:  Payless

  Locket Necklace:Forever 21

So, after 3 days and several bleachings and dyings, this is how my hair turned out.  And just let me tell you, I have a lot of hair to dye.  Trying to cover it all and get an even result is a nightmare.  However, I do like the way it turned out in the end.  I used Ion Color Brilliance Brights which is new at Sally Beauty Supply.  It was only $5 for a tube, and of course I went in today and they had a $2.00 off coupon.  I ended up getting 2 more colors for only about $2.50 a piece with my regular Sally's card discount.  So far I like the way the dye worked.  We'll see how it holds up after the first shampoo.

I am headed up to Ohio today.  Although I'm looking forward to it, I always hate leaving my husband and doggie babies behind.  Hopefully I won't be gone too long!

 

Moving Blues

Moving was definitely a challenge.  I'm still sitting here 2 weeks later with unpacked boxes.  But I'm so glad to be back in our house.  It really feels like home this time.  Before we moved in, I spray painted these random pieces of furniture that we acquired, and I love the color!  Can you tell that my favorite color is in the blue category?  These were actually the first real pictures I took with my new hair color.  I've re-dyed my hair since then and it looks SO much better now.  I didn't realize how much of the top layer of my hair I had missed. 

Yesterday I finally got some of my office stuff unpacked, and I have to say I'm pretty excited about opening my Etsy shops back up.  My husband and I even went to Lowes last night to get some DIY photography lighting equipment, so hopefully I'll be back in business soon!  I've got lots of vintage goodies that I'm excited to share!

Dreaming in blue...

(via: haircolorideas)

So, in the near future I'm going to be taking a small (yet much needed) break from the real world.  I won't be working, so I've decided I need to take the opportunity to do something I've wanted to do for many years.  Dye my hair blue!  I've been dying my hair for years, but have never done anything too funky.  The really bad part is that even though I'm still in my 20s, I'm getting gray hairs!  I thought I would be at least 40 or so before I had to start dying my hair to cover up gray.  Alas...

Here are some inspirational pictures for my forthcoming new look.  I'm not sure how brave I'm going to get when the time comes, but I'm thinking I'm going to go pretty bold with the color.  Why not?  I'll live with being called a smurf for a few months. 

 (via: squidoo)

 (via: haircolorideas)

(via: squidoo)

(via: haircolorideas)

 (via: squidoo)

(via: horriblecherry)

 (via: haircolorideas)

(via: haircolorideas)